Southern California - Long Group/Club Rides in SD area?

Hi everyone,

I'm new to the San Diego area and I wanted to know if there are any long, relatively fast weekend rides down here.

By long, I mean 70-100+ miles. As for speed, I'm not necessarily looking for race speeds but something like typical speeds on flats of around 22+mph. So looking for a group that can work well together to get a good long, fast ride in.

I moved down from the Seattle area and used to ride with a group that was essentially a step below a race team. They would do long rides with lots of hills and work well together on the flats to keep up a good pace. For anyone that knows about the Seattle area, the group is called Earthdreams and they ride out of Marymoor Park in Redmond. Looking for something similar down in SoCal.

So far, I've found two groups that I like but am wondering if there are others.
1. San Diego Bicycle Club (SDBC) - They've got a new "C" ride where the C stands for climbing. They do between 55-65 miles and hit climbs very hard, but take it very slow on the flats.
2. San Diego Descenders - They seem to ride in the 60 mile range, do fewer, bigger climbs (they ride out in the Poway area mainly) and keep a good pace on the flats. I like this group but was wondering if there were any similar groups that just do longer rides.

Thanks for any suggestions,
neneboricua

http://www.sdcbc.org/Groups.html

Rancho or Rancheros out of Escondido I forget their name but they have cool kits. Don't know their mileage

Descenders are faster than me but I know a couple of members. They often go 60-70 but not normally a hundred on their Saturday ride. Dispatch out of Coronado and you'll get your hundred. Contact them on their website if your interested.

SDBC is a big group and I would guess their A ride could accommodate you. I have seen them pretty well splintered in the past and the one big group becomes a bunch of smaller groups. I would guess there are some other clubs but I do not know them.

Welcome to San Diego and good luck

This group was not on the list I linked earlier. http://www.swamis.org/ They are reputed to be a pretty competitive bunch, and their rides are not for the faint hearted.

Rancho or Rancheros out of Escondido I forget their name but they have cool kits. Don't know their mileage

Ranchos. They have 45-65 mile rides every Saturday morning, starting in Escondido and usually going north along the 15.

Thanks for all the info, everyone. It seems like none of the groups on the http://www.sdcbc.org/Groups.html page, Swamis, or Ranchos do anything more than 65 miles. Maybe it's just SoCal doesn't do long group rides?

I haven't done SDBC's A ride but I have done their B ride. I can keep the pace just fine, but feel the ride is unsafe. It feels like a huge mob of weekend warriors that don't race but like to pretend they do by making the group ride a crit, but on open roads.

Haven't ridden with Swamis yet. Heard the ride is safer than SDBC, but faster. Not sure if I could keep up their pace, but I've been meaning to give it a shot. Even though it's not as long as I'd like, from what I've heard about the pace, I'm sure I'd be pretty fried by the end.

Maybe I'll just end up adding my own 20-40 mile loops after the group ride is done when I wanna get more miles in. I just feel it's nicer to do those kind of big miles with a group...

neneboricua

SDBC A & B rides do the same route - 43 miles. SDBC as an organization is pretty safe, but they open up their rides to the public, so anything goes, especially on the A ride. In fact, the A ride is not even an "official" SDBC ride.

You might check the North County Cycle Club (http://northcountycycleclub.com/web/index.php). They have long rides on both Saturday and Sunday.

North County Cycle Club has a 50-65 miles ride on Saturdays and Sundays. Saturdays leave from San Marcos, Sundays start at various locations. The Sunday group is usually faster.

don't bother with swamis, sdbc or ranchos. they aren't what you are looking for. I'd look for a group called sub 5. they are century riders, not sure about their pace or riding skills since I haven't ridden with them, but I'm pretty sure their mileage and pace is what you are looking for.